The Theater: Abe Lincoln in Japanese

In Tokyo this month the Japs are getting a stage lesson in democracy—and liking it. In a freezing but always well-filled theater, the progressive Zenshinza troupe is performing a four-hour-long version of John Drinkwater's generation-old Abraham Lincoln. The stilted, undramatic play is nothing in itself to warm audiences up. Neither is the name of Lincoln, which to most Japs is far more hazy than hallowed—even though Emperor Hirohito has a "cherished" bust of him in his temporary palace. But the production, with popular, 5 ft. 7 in. Actor Chojuro Kawaraskai playing Lincoln, shows...